Midnight
by WhatWordsMisslWillRemember
Summary: It's been four years; since Glee ended and they left each other's lives. How will everything change when Heather and Naya run into each other at an LA bar? Warning: intense IRL shipping.
1. Chapter One Present Day Naya's POV

"Aaaaaand that's a wrap! Have a great weekend, Naya. See you on Monday."

It had been a week chocked full of long hours and repeating the same lines over and over again. Despite the insane hours and heavy workload, there was nothing in the world that Naya would rather be doing. This was life.

Singing, acting, photoshoots, commercials, promotions, signings, meet and greets. It was all a packaged deal that came along with the hectic lifestyle she had built for herself. Half of the time, a life of fame and fortune was as good as it got. You had fans that would chew their arms off to meet you and so much money you didn't know what to do with the better half of it and there was always some fancy party or vacation waiting for you.

The other half of the time, well, it wasn't really all it was cracked up to be. Naya tried to ignore that half of the lifestyle. This was what she loved to do, and she had to embrace every part of it full on, with open arms and a smile, no matter what was going on at the time.

It was a crazy life. It was hectic, there was no doubt about that. It was fast paced and crazy and exciting and fabulous, and though some may tell you differently, once you get in there's no way out. You're locked and sworn in for life, when you enter the world of fame and showbiz. No matter if you moved to Australia and cut off your phone line and threw your laptop into the nearest ocean while riding a kangaroo around town, there would always be someone, somewhere who would take your picture or beg you for an autograph, even if it had been years since you'd starred in a movie.

Generally, the good outweighed the bad. In fact, it almost always did. Living your dream, singing on stages, traveling all across the world, and seeing yourself on the big screen? There was truly no greater satisfaction. There was nothing Naya loved more than knowing she had chased after her dreams and made them come true.

Nothing had ever stood in the way of her and her dreams.

Well...almost nothing.

There had been one thing...one thing that was actually not a thing at all. It was a person. A person who had changed absolutely everything. A person who Naya had loved so deeply that she would have given up her fame, career, and fans for in a single second, if said person had asked.

The twist in the story, was that said person was the last person she was ever supposed to fall in love with. From the second Naya laid eyes on the leggy blonde dance instructor, she knew nothing would ever be the same from that point on. She was a game changer, and that wasn't always a good thing.

From the minute they talked, it was obvious that Heather was, well, her soulmate. Naya had never connected with someone so fast or so deeply. By the second day of filming, they were cuddling on set and finishing each other's sentences. Fate had laid a hand and brought this wonderful, amazing woman into her life.

Their relationship was anything but normal. They didn't date for long, because things just got too complicated, but never had either of the girls loved someone so intensely, so passionately, or with so much depth. They were soul mates and they both knew it. Though their official time of dating hadn't lasted as long as they both would have liked, it didn't stop them from still, well, acting like a couple.

They still held hands and kissed each other and went on dates and hung out after work and on the weekends and texted each other and went to movies and went to premiers together and brought each other places and...well...had sex. A lot of sex.

But don't get me wrong, that wasn't a relationship. They were both single, straight women in Hollywood, starring on a hit TV sitcom, and that was all that it was. They were just best friends. Nothing more, nothing less.

At least, that's what Naya, Heather, their PR people, Ryan Murphy, and Fox had all come to the joint conclusion needed to be portrayed.

They had fallen into a routine; they acted like a couple, worked really close, and were very, very much in love. Things were fine that way.

Until they were paired together romantically on the show.

That's when everything started to fall apart.

That's when they had to look each other in the eyes and make confessions that were so eerily close to their real life situation that it hit something deep down that neither wanted to acknowledge.

That was the beginning of the end.

That was when everything began to change.

Anyway, where were we? Oh yes. The life of fame.

Naya knew that where she was now was a good place. She had steady job offers pouring in left and right, and she was in the process of recording her third album. She was doing well and had made a life for herself that was everything she was ever supposed to have wanted.

Then why did things always feel so out of place? Especially on nights like these. When she got home from work around 11 PM, put her feet up on her coffee table, had a drink while searching her DVR for whatever shows she had missed during the week. Naya couldn't help but think about everything she always tried so hard to push out of her mind.

It was rare that she even had nights like these. Most nights she was at a party, or hanging out with Telly or Dianna, or just got home so late from work that all she could do was pass out on her couch in full hair and makeup.

But when these nights came; the nights where she had absolutely nothing to do but think about life - they stung. That's when she sometimes felt that little hint of regret towards the life she had chosen. It was blatantly obvious that she would never be able to have a healthy relationship or even go out in public with her friends without being hounded by the paparazzi or crazy Glee fans that still remained dedicated to her, despite it being four years since Glee had been on air.

Fuck this.

It was time she got up off her ass and did something to take her mind off of those awful thoughts of regret.

"Hey, Di. Meet me at the bar in five."


	2. Chapter Two Present Day Heather

So, I have one review. Oh yeah. I feel pretty legit. Honestly, this is the first fanfiction I've ever written and it's not as easy as it seems. I feel like this sucks and nobody is reading it. Hahaha. Oh well. Even if nobody reviews this, I'm still writing it for myself.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

You know that feeling when you can tell everyone is discussing something about you, but they'll never directly mention it to you?

That's how Heather had been feeling the past few weeks.

She knew what the future held. She knew what was expected of her. She knew that when she had chosen to be with Taylor that she would eventually have to consent to the inevitable.

Marriage.

She knew everyone was trying to shove the idea of marriage down her throat constantly yet subtly, as if that would somehow convince her to have a sudden realization that she wanted to marry Taylor as quickly as possible. As if dropping hints left and right was going to suddenly make her want to get married.

Every time Heather saw her mom, the first question out of her mouth was, "He didn't propose yet, did he? No. Of course he didn't. You would've told me. Damn. When is that boy going to propose? You're 28 years old, Heather. You're not getting any younger. Tell that boy to hurry up. I want to be a Grandmother before I die, God damn it."

All Heather could do was roll her eyes, but she could deal with her mom freaking out on her constantly about marriage. That was all fine and dandy… until Taylor's family starting pushing it down her throat, too.

Whenever she saw his family, his mother would ask to speak with her alone for a moment, and beckon Taylor's two sisters, Angie and Marie, to come talk, too. They would all sit her down on the couch and interrogate her about how often Taylor brought up marriage, if they discussed it, when they discussed it, if they had any plans, and any other question that could possibly be related to something she had never spoken a word about.

Heather didn't know why she wasn't comfortable with the idea of marriage. She _loved_ Taylor. They had been together for as long as she could remember. His family was always so sweet and accommodating. He took care of her. She was supposed to be overly excited about marrying him and barring his two children and moving into a town house with a lab puppy and a white picket fence. That had to be what she wanted, right? She loved Taylor.

She did love him, right?

As much as Heather cared about and loved Taylor and wanted to be with him, the idea of marriage and commitment was, well, not exactly the most comfortable and natural thing in the world for her. If and when she agreed to the inevitable and walked down that aisle with her white dress on, the only thing left that would be hers was her dancing career.

Jazz and hip-hop and ballet would be the sole reminder that Heather was her own person. That she was something more than Taylor's hot girlfriend, or fiancee, or wife, or whatever. Once they got married, what was hers would be his and what was his would be hers.

Heather wasn't sure exactly where down the line she started to become a shadow of who she used to be, but it really sucked. I guess that's what happens when you come out of showbiz.

Her years on Glee had, without a doubt, been the best of her life.

A month before she got the job, she had broken up with Taylor, and followed her dance career. Somehow, she had ended up on Glee, and she couldn't be more thankful. She had gotten to do what she loved every week. She had gotten to play an important role that meant something in the lives of others. She had met the greatest people in the whole world - her Glee family.

But the best part of all was her partner in crime, her best friend, and the girl that had changed everything. Miss Naya Marie Rivera.

Heather had loved Naya more than she had ever loved anyone, Taylor included. The love she had for her could never be described, simply because it made absolutely no sense. Naya was the last person she was supposed to have fallen for, but she did fall for her, and hard. So hard that they'd both ended up flat on their faces.

It had been months since they had spoken to one another, and whenever they talked it was as casual as possible. A simple, "How have you been?" every three months wasn't exactly what you could call a friendship.

As much as she tried to block it out, Heather knew that somewhere, deep down, the reason she was so unhappy with her life was because Naya wasn't there to share it with her. Sure, a lot of shit had happened in the years of Glee, and ultimately, Heather had chosen to be with Taylor because of the easiness factor, but despite all of that, Naya was her best friend.

What did life and happiness and marriage count for when you couldn't share it with your best friend?

But talk of marriage and relationships was not something she could do with her best friend.

You can't exactly talk to your best friend about your boyfriend and his family and your family putting the pressure of marriage on you when your best friend is the same person that once confessed they loved you while lying on Dianna Agron's front porch swing at three in the morning, while everyone else was too drunk to function and crashed on the couches inside.

Heather knew it was wrong how often she thought of Naya. It would've been perfectly fine if she just missed her friendship and presence in her life, but she knew there was more to it than that. She missed Naya in every way that a person can miss another person.

She missed everything about her, and that absolutely killed her.

What do you do when you love two people at once? When you love your boyfriend and his family, but you also love your old best friend, who is a _girl? _When you can't seem to get over someone you haven't had a real, face to face conversation with in over a year?

Heather didn't know the answer to any of those questions. What she did know was that she couldn't stay in Arizona a minute longer. She needed a vacation and she needed one right now.

So, she did what she always did.

She called Zach.

She called the airport.

She booked her flight for the next morning


	3. Chapter 3 Present Day

"Naya, my sister is visiting right now. I thought I told you that. She has two little girls, and I don't think the bar scene is exactly her cup of tea. What about tomorrow night?"

"Fine. Maybe I'll try to see if Telly wants to go tonight…"

"That's a good idea, if you're down to going to a gay club and watching him dance on the tables before he's even had a sip of alcohol, babe."

"Better than sitting here on my couch regretting all my life decisions," she replied sarcastically.

"Oooh. Sounds like someone's getting a little melodramatic. We'll talk tomorrow. I'm picking you up to go to Alman's around 6, love. See you then."

"Bye, Di. Tell your sister I said hi."

"Will do."

Well, shit. There went that plan.

"Telly?"

"Hello, wonderful best friend of mine. How may I be of service to you on this fine Friday night?"

"Let's go to the bar. I need to get out tonight, honestly. There's way too much on my mind, and I'd rather not spontaneously combust or something."

"Nay Nay, you know I don't approve of drinking while you're upset. It clearly leads to addiction and shit. I won't support that habit."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Naya laughed, "I think we'd both know if I had a drinking problem."

"Uh uh uh, my mind is made. You can come over and play charades with Patrick and I if you'd like."

Patrick was Telly's newest boyfriend. They'd been dating for the past few months, and he was definitely a, umm, a character.

He was even more flamboyant than Telly. Not only that, Patrick was very opinionated. You say one word he doesn't like, and he would go off on you for an hour, and that wasn't something Naya felt like dealing with. Especially not when she had more on her mind than she could physically deal with, and didn't want to have to worry about saying something that would piss Patrick off.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Di and I are going to the bar tomorrow night. Care to join?"

"I'm there, girl. And my offer still stands with charades. First turns start in 10. Be here or be square."

"Call me a square, then. Have fun."

Both of her best friends were busy. Go figure.

It wasn't that she didn't have anyone else to go to the bar with, it was just that she knew tonight was going to be a hard night. She knew she would end up going all crazy, emotional girl drunk after consuming enough vodka, and would probably start crying about anything and everything. Nobody knew how to deal with her when she got in that emotional girl drunk stage, except for Telly and Dianna.

She could always call up Lea.

Lea and Kevin were the only two Glee kids, aside from Dianna and Telly, that she still hung out with on a regular basis. They had both definitely seen more than their fair share of Naya's emotional drunk cries back after Heather had chosen Taylor over her.

It was just that neither Kevin nor Lea were particularly great at dealing with her when she got to that point.

What the hell. Might as well call both of them.

"Naya, baby girl, how have you been? I feel like we haven't talked in ages, but it's only been a week. I miss you already! What's up?"

Lea's upbeat attitude always had a way of making Naya smile, no matter what kind of slump she was in. It was hard not to feel happy when someone as cute and cheerful as Lea was talking to you.

"How do I put this? I'm actually calling you because things haven't been great. I need a night out to get my mind off of everything crazy going on right now."

"Oh, gosh. I would love to hear all about it, but I can't go out tonight. I'm actually at a premier thing with Jon. We can totally go get lunch tomorrow or something. Tell me all about it. I want to know every detail. Something must have happened in the past week, and I want to hear all about it. Don't spare any of the dirty details. Start from the beginning."

"Hey, actually, do you just want to go to Alman's tomorrow with Di, Telly, and I? We can talk about it then or something."

"I would love to! I miss you all so much! I can't believe it's only been a week since we've all hung out. I'll be there. Love you, baby girl. See you soon."

"Bye, Lea."

Well, there went that. Seriously. Were all of her friends busy tonight except for her? Especially when now of all times, she needed to be busy. Go figure.

Just as she was about to call Kevin, ironically, she got a text from him.

_hey gurl. heard things are kinda cray. lea told me, ill be joining you lovely people tomorrow. busy tonite, but call if u need to talk. c u ;-)_

Wonderful.

It looked like tonight would be spent just the very opposite of how she wanted it to be.

She put on the latest episode of Jersey Shore.

Tonight was going to be much longer than she'd originally planned.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ The Next Morning \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Heather!"

"Zach!"

Heather threw her bags on the floor and hugged Zach. It had been far, far too long since she had last been in LA.

Zach Woodlee's hair had grown out even longer and he had definitely gotten tanner, considering it was summertime in LA and it's kind of impossible not to tan.

"How is everything? What brought you to LA? How's dance? How's Taylor?"

"Thank you, Zach, for not bombarding me with questions the second I got off my plane!" Heather joked.

Zach laughed. "Sorry, sorry. It's just been way too long. We need to catch up immediately."

And so they got coffee and let everything go.

"Everything's been…okay, for the most part. Which is why I'm not sure what's up with me. I've just been feeling really out of place and kind of melancholy lately. There's no reason, in particular."

"Hemo, I know you better than that. There has to be something bothering you. You can tell me. Let loose, Hemo. Let loose."

Heather laughed.

"Honestly? I think it could have something to do with the fact my parents and Taylor's parents are constantly bombarding us with an overload of questions about when we're getting married and how he's going to propose and how often we discuss marriage. I just…I'm not ready."

"Damn, Hemo. Why aren't you ready? How long have you and Taylor been dating now? Eight years? I've never heard of two people dating that long and not getting married, girl. I know how much you love him. I thought you'd be jumping through hoops with excitement that marriage was coming soon."

"Eight years, yes, but it's been off and on. We've broken up more times than I can count. What makes you think it won't happen again? Marriage is like…it's like…it's final. That's it. That would be like…like I'm finalizing my choices."

"Your choices? What other choices do you have? I mean, there's dance and all that, of course. But you love Taylor. You guys have been together for 5 years now without breaking up. Things seem steady and you're going strong."

"We are. That's what confuses me, you know? I should be happy. I should be anxious. I should be excited. I should be home, in Arizona, looking through wedding magazines with my mom and sister. Not here…in LA. I just feel like if I marry Taylor, that takes away any possibility I would have of…never mind. I just. I don't know."

"Hemo, you're scaring me. You're making it seem like you're not over someone…you know who. Like you're not over…" Zach lowered his voice, "…over _her." _

Heather laughed. "Where would you get that idea from? Of course I'm over her. It's been four years since we were close like before. I haven't seen her since last year."

"Love knows no time limits, Hemo. I think we both know that."

"Regardless, I don't love her anymore. I couldn't possibly love her like that anymore. I mean, of course I miss her. I miss having her as my best friend. I miss getting sushi together and watching movies after we came home from work. That doesn't mean I'm still in love with her. I have Taylor. I love Taylor. I'm just confused is all."

"Why do I get the feeling you're lying to me right now? Can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you are completely, 100%, fully, absolutely, positively over Naya?"

Heather rolled her eyes and looked down at the cup of coffee in her hands. When did the swirls of sugar in the bottom of her cup get so interesting?

"Hemo, Hemo, Hemo. I knew there was a reason I told you that it would be a good move to go back to Arizona. I knew you had to get away from her."

"Don't try to make it seem like you had some great plan to get us to move on from what we had. I moved back to Arizona for Taylor and my family. Naya and I haven't had those kinds of feelings for each other in years."

"You're pulling all of this out of your ass right now. I can see it. I'm right, aren't I?"

Heather just rolled her eyes and shook her head back and forth.

Of course he wasn't right.

Well, maybe a little.

Fine.

He was right. So sue her if she wasn't completely over her best friend. Who could blame her?

Heather exhaled deeply and shook her head, "Look, Zach. I've been fine for the past few years. Sure, I think about her a lot and I miss her more than anything, but I'm happy. She's happy. I love Taylor and I chose him. My family loves him, his family loves me. We're living together. Come on. Even if I do have some slight, little, almost unnoticeable, hardly there, almost nonexistent feelings for Naya, that doesn't mean anything, because I'm with Taylor. She's part of my past. Of course I love and miss her. She's my best friend. That doesn't mean I want to be with her."

"Well, good for you. I hope you mean that, Hemo, because Taylor loves you. He does all he can to take care of you and make you the happiest little professional dancer you can possibly be. Your family wants what is best for you, and obviously, Taylor is who is best for you. Yeah. Technicality. But what I want you to know is that I'm here for you. I want you to be happy, no matter what that means. If you want to run away from Arizona and come back to LA and change your name and get a fake mustache, then by all means, I have a spare room and I can get you jobs in the blink of an eye, you know that."

Heather knew it was a huge step that she'd admitted those feelings she'd been hiding away for the longest time.

Taking huge steps isn't always a good thing, though. Heather wasn't supposed to be taking steps anymore. She was supposed to have already learned to walk. She was supposed to have reached her destination years ago when Glee ended and she moved to Arizona and took a job teaching dance and settled down with Taylor and moved into an apartment with him.

That was when she was supposed to have stopped taking steps.

Then why was she still taking them?

Maybe coming to LA wasn't such a good idea after all.

Why, oh why, would she think going to LA of all places in the world, would help her clear her mind?

This was where her past was. This is where she'd left her past behind. It was a place that made her happy, obviously, considering the best years of her life had taken place here. It was nostalgic and crazy, but definitely not a good place to go when she was trying to settle herself down, clear her mind, and find peace away from Arizona so that when she went back, she would be good and ready to put her past to rest and enjoy her life with Taylor.

Who the fuck goes to the one place with the one person they've tried to forget when they're trying to move on?

Stupid people. That's who.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Thanks, Zach. I mean that."

"Idea of all ideas. I'm going to take you to Alman's tonight. You know, that bar just outside of Beverly Hills? We used to go there all the time. We're going to get a few drinks in you and figure all your shit out."

"Perfect."


	4. Author's note

Hi!

I realize that it's been like…literally FOREVER since I updated this story. I lost most of my inspiration due to the fact I thought no one was reading it, but I just checked up on it and realized I had 11 reviews and two messages. Which might seem like nothing, but it was enough to make me realize that there were people who were reading my story. And I kinda hated myself for being one of those people that starts a story and never updates it.

Anyway, although I haven't consistently written or uploaded any new chapters, I've been writing scenes and pieces of this story for the past year. I decided I wanted to take it in a slightly different angle, and changed some aspects of it, and I'm going to just publish it as a new story (with the same name and description!)


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